2.0 Speakers Compilation: Best for <$500 - Page 14

*sorry for double posting :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by jakarujakpala 

I currently use 1st gen KRK RP 5, it's nice for what's it worth. But I can't comment much, because I'm not an audiophile and moreover I've really limited experience with speakers. My last experience was Kurzweil KS-40A, it's really nice for the price. Need to search another speaker now, because my KRK's quite old and I think I need replacement soon. Thinking about getting nicer near field monitor.

There's alot of info about studio monitors and placement/acoustics at gearslutz. 

I think that if you want to get really good sound you also must treat your room acoustics. Bad room + 1000$ monitors = money pretty much wasted.

I wouldn't go that far, you can still have great sound without room treatment...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBSCIX 

I wouldn't go that far, you can still have great sound without room treatment...

I don't know, but my Behringer B2030's sound totally rubbish in my room. The echo is terrible, and I can barely hear any details in the music. That's why they've been in the closet for 6 months now. The biggest problems are in the bass region, where I think they have at least 10dB boost at some frequencies (standing waves in the room). But i'm not expert so I'm not trying to start an argue :P 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Headzone 

There's alot of info about studio monitors and placement/acoustics at gearslutz. 

 

I think that if you want to get really good sound you also must treat your room acoustics. Bad room + 1000$ monitors = money pretty much wasted.

Yep, I know that site. A lot of information there, but that site is as dangerous as this site. 

As for room acoustics, I know that it's really important. It's just I can't do anything much to treat my room. It's just to cluttered and I've no other room left in my house. And acoustic foam (bass trap, etc) is not cheap. And I think I can get really nice sound with headphones for a way less money.

So yeah, maybe that's the reason I pick headphones over speakers nowadays. Still, I want a set of nice of speakers someday. 

Great recommendations! I stumbled across these...they're front ported and sound awesome:

Focal XS Book

http://www.squidoo.com/focal-awesome-mini-monitors

Quote:

Originally Posted by earcandy07 

Great recommendations! I stumbled across these...they're front ported and sound awesome:

Focal XS Book

http://www.squidoo.com/focal-awesome-mini-monitors

Agreed, they are awesome!

Ive read all this thread and i need to wake up EARLY, darn it!

Great info all around so i guess i have only 2 candidates on my price range.

*The Bx5a deluxe edition (specially after this guy talking about some mods)

*Tannoy reveal 5 (nobody seems to had a bad experience with this)

Im looking for something decent for my computer that i use for entertainment and so far hea-fi had help me with all my audio setup.

Asus Xonar Essence ST

Beyerdynamic DT880pro 250

Im pleased, in deed cuz ive found a whole new world in sound and thats why im looking for a good sound time without my headphones on and getting a replacement for my old logitech G51 (started to die about 1 year ago. Now i can only use a 2.1 setup) but WITHIN a limited budget <200usd 250 top(new or a good used, wont matter much)

Any help is appreciated, thnx

I think this thread will be very useful for a lot of head-fi'ers. I personally had a pair of bx5a deluxe and I agree they are great for the price.

I'm also looking for new computer speakers and i've narrowed it down to four.Which are all under $500.And all active.

AudioEngine A5+

iKey-Audio M-505v2 Active Studio Monitors

Alesis - M1 Active MK2 Biamplified Reference Monitors

Yorkville Sound - YSM5 - Powered Studio Reference Monitors

I have A-B demoed the Alesis and Yorkville along with KRK,Yamaha,Behringer and a couple of other similar priced  active monitors.And to me,the Alesis and Yorkville sounded the most well balanced and fully dynamic.I have not heard the iKey and AudioEngines yet.

note something..

you can hear a pair of speakers in a big open space and listen for realism, but that doesn't answer a serious question:

is there a pocket inside the speaker holding agility?

why is that question serious?

because a speaker that sounded realistic in the big open space will not sound the same in a smaller room.

you will need to adjust the frequency response a little bit to bring the realism back, but maybe the speaker doesn't have a big pocket of agility to allow said adjustments.

seriously..

you try to adjust the frequency response because of the smaller room and the sound from the speaker simply isn't as good because the speaker can't keep up with the demand placed upon it.

then you bring those speakers back to the store and bring home a different set of speakers, only to find out adjusting the frequency response for the room makes the second set of speakers sound the same or better than what you heard at the store.

if i confused you, think about this little example..

back in time people used to adjust their carburetors or twist the ignition coil to make the engine more powerful.

a valid question is..

how much room for adjustment is there?

(kinda like asking how many times can you twist the screw before the screw runs out of threads)

why is the question valid?

well.. maybe because some of the more expensive speakers come with screws that twist a lot more than the cheaper speakers.

it is certainly one good way to get the same audio quality without spending the same price.

you also need to think about audio mastering techniques..

because those techniques will get the speaker cone moving really weird looking, and if you stand right next to it you might not hear audio that makes any sense .. but if you walk away from the speaker, you get closer to the sweet spot and the audio you hear makes sense again.

see,

some speakers don't need to do that much work.

some techniques require one speaker to do 3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-etc. different things all at once.

when your speaker is only needed to do 1-2 things, the design is going to be a lot different.. and the sound from the speaker when simply connected with music playing is also going to sound different.

i'm trying to say..

you hooked up an mp3 player to a $30,000 speaker and thought it sounded like crap.

but that is only because the speaker wasn't doing the long list it was designed to do.

yeah.. it could be possible to view an expensive speaker as something worth only $5

hopefully you can gather the opposite information there about a speaker sounding realistic in a big open room, then bringing it home and frustrated about the value because the sound is different and it wont adjust enough.

how can that happen?

because maybe the speaker has a minimum room size and your room is smaller.

it isn't the speakers fault .. and it isn't the speaker manufacturer's fault either .. you simply need to bring the speaker back and exchange it for another pair that is designed to work with your room size.

it is hard to argue, because the speaker manufacturer's don't tell you what the ideal room size is for every speaker anyways .. so they aren't really guilty of fraud, it is simply a matter of trying to make a match but you missed.

if they were selling the speaker and not allowing you to return it because you found out the room size wasn't a match.. then fraudulent action would come to light.

i hope this is a note of lesson for everybody talking about these pre-made computer speakers.. because a wise person supervising the industry needs to demand a match for the many different room sizes.

what might sound good to one person in their room might not be a match for your room size, and that is simply how problems happen.. it isn't always because one person has better ears than the other.

Thing is i CANT take it home, try, and return it if didnt like it.

when there isn't a return policy, that is when the seller should go the next step and inform the buyer what the speaker is ideal for (room size, all the way to atmosphere pressure, and maybe something about humidity and temperature too if things are really serious) .. otherwise the seller needs to make the speaker adjustable to prevent a bad match of the list said above.

Man, im buying from ebay and waiting an overseas shipping.

But my room is small 4.5x3.5mts and has no accoustic treatment.